


Obelus

by candy_floss_consumer



Series: No Planned Sequels or Otherwise [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: As Always the First Memory Isn’t Too Great, Canon Divergence, Chronic Hero Disorder, F/M, Haruno Sakura-centric, It's Infectious And Naruto Passed It On, It's Time Travel We Have OPTIONS, Sakura Gets A Sharingan Eye, Sakura May Have A Saving People Thing, Strong Haruno Sakura, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Tree Baby Is Here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24624463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/candy_floss_consumer/pseuds/candy_floss_consumer
Summary: “Obelus: The ÷ symbol. | The divide between the future-before and the future-now is far deeper and larger than you think."“In the midst of losing the fight against Kaguya… Sakura, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke end up back in time. With Naruto and Sasuke dying to stop the past Madara and Zetsu, how will Sakura and Kakashi handle making sure that the future they left will be a brighter one this time round?”Previously known as “The Silver Cherry Forest”Adopted from The_Cats_Paw
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Yamato | Tenzou, Haruno Sakura/Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura/Namikaze Minato, Hatake Kakashi & Yamato | Tenzou
Series: No Planned Sequels or Otherwise [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1781191
Comments: 20
Kudos: 102





	1. "We laughed and called it victory."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It begins with four. It's supposed to end that way too."

**_She_ **landed hard, stumbling precariously until she fell, bruised, battered, beaten. Her own voice ricocheted in her ears. She was panicking, but of course she was. Kaguya had likely pulled another portal trick, if the drastic change of environment was of any indication. A drastic change that her body was refusing to acknowledge. She breathed in deeply, trying to take in the foerign scent of clear, unspoiled air. At first she gagged, coughing at the unexpected way she didn’t have to filter ash and smoke from entering her lungs. Eventually though, Sakura could breathe consistently, allowing her chakra---or what remained of it---flow through her body. After healing what she could of her more serious injuries, she groaned and rolled over, eyes opening to the sight of light filtering through a forest canopy. She hissed as something cut her hand when she stretched her arms out, and Sakura grasped the oddly circular object. She brought it to her face, eyes squinting as she recognized the brass metal of some sort of pocket watch. She frowned and shoved the useless thing into her thigh pouch. It might’ve been a clue, but Sakura had no idea what to make of it. The swaying branches above her took back her focus, the blitzing sunlight just barely missing her eyes. Birds twittered anxiously, likely due to the rather loud and explosive nature of her arrival.

But where exactly was she?

Sitting up, she tried to sense any chakra signatures nearby, terribly hopeful. Hopeful in a way that hurt, that she could sense Naruto, Kakashi, or even Sasuke. But there was nothing. She cursed at herself. Maybe if she was a skilled sensor, the way Naruto was now with his cooperation with Kurama… Sakura shook her head, standing on shaky legs. Wondering about what-ifs and maybes would get her nowhere. It never had. Not when Sasuke abandoned the village and she begged to go with him. Not when she was stuck in the village while Naruto chased after that idiotic Uchiha time and time again. Not when Kakashi melted back into Konohagakure’s shinobi forces, leaving her alone. Not even when she had to survive the Slug Contract trials in Shikkotsu Forest. So Sakura shoved any thoughts of what-ifs or maybes straight into the box she had made when she was fourteen. She grit her teeth, scowled and set her heart to pace. And finally, she prayed to something shinobi never believed in. With that Sakura turned in a random direction, and began walking.

**_It_ ** took her three hours until she found anything. At least, she estimated as much from the sun’s movement since she first arrived at this place. It wasn’t like she could use the watch she’d found. Its glass was cracked, the inner workings of the device shattered and melted to slag. Sakura didn’t know where it had come from, but suspected Kaguya had something to do with it. Even if the bastard goddess hadn’t shown hide nor hair of herself since Sakura regained her bearings. She walked, going at a civilian pace rather than a shinobi one, simply so that she could preserve her chakra. Each step ached with the superfluous injuries she hadn't healed yet, and she could swear there was a rock in her shoe, though nothing was there when she'd checked. Her clothes were torn and bloodied, no longer recognisable as the uniform of the Leaf, and there was still the burn on her arm from that acid dimension. The breeze that choked her before rippled across her skin. It pulled goosebumps from her flesh and threatened to steal her breath. A terrible warning.

Soon, the light started to fade, and Sakura risked using a bit of chakra to reach the top of the trees. She landed lightly on one of the highest branches, only to see that the sun was indeed starting to set. Gaining a bird’s-eye view, she finally recognised where she was, the forest of Shirakami-Sanchi, which bordered the Leaf and Takigakure's country. From her vantage point, she could see Mountain Country, where the Mountain's Graveyard lay, the place that their jutsu had actually been aiming for. Sakura sighed to herself, suddenly feeling every ache and cut bone deep into her skin with a terrible keenness. Worse yet, her vision would be limited with the sun sinking ever further into the horizon. She cursed at her situation. Well, at least she had a direction to go in, now.

Since she was already perched in one of the taller trees, Sakura began her journey up in the forest’s canopy. It was tiring to use her chakra so stringently, but not as tiring or vulnerable as it would have been continuing on the ground. Once the sun fell, Sakura picked up the pace. Every so often she glanced uneasily at the moon. And even though it was a brilliant silver-white every time she looked at it, (and not the sharingan red her mind insisted it should be), she still felt the need to stay alert. Sakura blinked rapidly, praying to the stars that her eyes would stay open. She needed sleep,desperately. But she didn’t think there was any way she'd be able to while the moon was full like that. It wasn’t until midnight passed and the hour was closer to morning, that she was able to rest. She forced herself to wait until the moon had gone. Only then did she burrow into a small, nearby cave she found and slept.

**_With_ ** her chakra reserves partially boosted by five hours of sleep, Sakura chose to sprint the rest of the way to Mountain Country the shinobi way. Chakra almost visibly crackled around her legs as she strengthened them, utilizing the skills Tsunade had given her by bounding soundlessly through the forest. Well, almost. Aside from the tiny crackle of the craters she made every time her foot landed, that is. Sakura considered the land she was in for a moment. There weren't many people who lived in this land, mostly because of the prominent bones of giant animals and the eerie feeling that was always present there. She wondered, now, if that was due to the rampant infestation of Zetsu or the decrepit husk of the Juubi. As she traveled, a sudden explosion sounded, echoing into her ears from far away. Sakura located the cause of the thunderous noise up in the distance. A blooming cloud of dust, swirling together in a tornado of futon and a too familiar arc of lightning. _Chidori._ Increasing her pace even further, she could only hope she reached them before it was too late!

Except it took far too long to reach the spot where the explosion had occurred. In fact, it took almost the entire rest of the day. Every hour that passed had Sakura’s heart beating harder and her mind denying every awful possibility. Sakura wouldn’t have been surprised if a bruise formed on the inside of her chest, beaten by the organ that was supposed to be guarded by familiar hands. _Hands she hoped were still attached to living, breathing bodies._ But of course, by then, the sights, sounds, and chakra of fighting had long since faded. Hot tears dripped from her eyes as she kept running, ignoring the hitch in her side, the burning ache of her calves. Ignoring the thought that she was too late, chanting desperate denials under her breath the whole way. When sakura finally reached the place, she found a huge crater. Her heart seized in place. And right in the middle of it, the centerpiece of the terrible vision her eyes gave her, was Sasuke and Naruto.

Despite the strain, Sakura immediately used the shunshin technique to get there faster. She skidded down the sides of the crater, tumbling and eventually landing on her knees once reached their sides. She kneeled there in the dust and dirt, eyes hot and vision blurry as she continued to cry.

"Naruto! Sasuke!" she cried, but Sasuke didn't even open his eyes. Didn’t open his mouth either. Not even to scold her for her late arrival. _Not even to mock her for sounding like a fangirl again._ And no matter how hard she stared, his chest didn’t miraculous behind moving. Nor did his eyes flutter open. A whine came pitifully from the back of her throat. Naruto’s golden locks shifted as he turned his head to look at her and Sakura immediately, focused on the jinchuuriki. She shuffled closer.

"H-he's gone, S-Sakura-chan," came Naruto's choked whisper. It came at the price of a cough and a wheeze, blood pouring out of him even faster. Sakura cursed her situation once again. Where was that damn fox when she needed him?!

"Naruto!" Sakura cried, chakra instantly coiled within the tenketsu of her hands as she tried to heal him. Her breath caught in a sob when she realised the damage. She pleaded to anything, anyone out there. "Naruto, don't die, please!" The blonde’s hand fell weakly onto her own, almost as if to stop her.

"S-sorry, Sakura-chan," Naruto whispered to her. "I-I'm glad I got to see you, thought th-the jutsu hadn't worked properly when you a-and Kaka-sensei weren't here with us. B-but the bastard and I… We killed Madara, sealed away Black Zetsu and the Juubi statue. Th-the White Zetsu are gone too, I couldn't sense any more.” Sakura blinked rapidly, trying to keep the tears out of her eyes. She wanted to see him clearly, damn it. Even if it was the last time. Even if it would hurt her.

“But listen… Obito wasn't there. Th-that means,” Naruto coughed a little, “That he could still die, Sakura-chan. On that mission with little Kaka-sensei and my dad. Please… Please find Kaka-sensei if you can, and make sure he doesn't lose his best friend again. It sucks, y'know? Losing someone like that." Of course Sakura knew that. She knew. She could still remember the moment Madara chopped Ino in half like she was nothing. Tears streamed down her face as Naruto slipped away, despite her efforts to save him. She wiped away at them furiously, desperately memorizing Naruto’s face. _Damn fox. Heal him!_ She whispered to herself, even if she knew it was impossible. And then the stupid idiot had to make one more request.

“Sakura-chan,” Naruto said, his voice weak. But dammit, Sakura was listening, “Sasuke’s eye. Take it. Don’t let anybody else have it.” Fresh tears swelled at Sakura’s eyes, but this time she didn’t let them fall. She couldn’t believe that proud bastard actually died without using both his eyes. She cursed at him for dying at all. But she nodded anyways, promising for all that it was worth. Then Naruto was plagued by another coughing fit. One that wracked his whole body, making his limbs seize up and that had Sakura pouring her chakra into him to find anything, _anything_ to fix. But there wasn’t. And Naruto wasn’t going to last much longer.

"S-sorry, Sakura-chan," he whispered, then he was gone. 

Sakura's scream of agony echoed across the devastated forests. 

_“One last ditch effort. The plan for the worst case scenario. Some intricate sealwork and a slap-dash of chakra. It was perfect. The most ironic way to deal Kaguya her worst and final blow. Or so we thought. But we believed it. We laughed and called it victory.” —Haruno Sakura, ‘Tales of the Silver Cherry Forest’_


	2. "Not if it's you. Not if it's us."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Two in counting..."

**_When_** Sakura tried, she could pretend that it wasn’t Sasuke she was cutting into. Instead, there was a different patient underneath her chakra scalpel. One that was only sleeping, rather than dead. However, she was no longer able to pretend when she had to remove her own eye and replace it with his. It wasn’t easy. She cried while performing the surgery. Vomited before she completed it, and had to lean over with her eye hanging out while puking her guts up. Sakura wiped her mouth. She sanitized her hands with chakra and kept going. Theoretically, removing a person’s eye wasn’t difficult. Sakura had done it plenty of times in the emergency ward while interning at the hospital. But here it was somehow different. Here, where she had no mirror to check her work. Here, where the surgery was performed on the corpse of someone she once cherished.

Sakura somehow managed to get it done after twenty minutes. She connected the nerves, slipping the eye into her socket with a terrifying ease. As soon as the eye settled, her chakra surged towards it. The sharingan activated, instantly forcing Sakura to be able to see Naruto and Sasuke’s broken bodies in perfect clarity. A memory that she knew would stay with her and haunt her for the rest of her days. She remembers Sasuke mentioning it, once. Back near the beginning of the war. When he finally came back for good. _I can never forget; the images will never blur. These eyes would be useless otherwise._ The knowledge made her want to vomit again, but she had something else she wanted to do before she could let her stomach up-end itself. It wasn’t necessary, but she still wanted to. So Sakura implanted her exchanged eye into Sasuke’s body. She smiled sadly. It was a perfect fit. Sakura stopped any excess chakra from flowing into her new eye. She didn’t need anymore permanent images of her dead family nor did she need to pass out from chakra exhaustion. It was strange seeing her own emerald eye staring back at her. She ignored the churning in her stomach and closed Sasuke’s eyelid. She would always have a piece of him with her, now. As morbid as it sounded, it was all Sakura had left. Heavens knew where Kakashi was. Or if he even made it there with them. Sakura looked back at the bodies.

She would have to burn them. She cringed at the thought of what someone could learn from her family. Terrible things, in the wrong hands. She had no other choice _but_ to burn them. No shinobi could be buried the civilian way. Not when there were people who would dissect them piece by piece just to find a sliver of their secrets. And she was confident that there were. Even then. Sakura stood, strengthening her legs with chakra. She leapt out of the crater, scrounging the surroundings for kindle and timber. She would return every so often, straightening Naruto and Sasuke’s bodies and then placing the branches and logs strategically around them. The first few batches of wood are used as an outline, pressed snugly against their bodies. The next cover them from head to toe in a box-like shape. Like coffins weaved out of tree branches and held together by reeds. If she had the time, Sakura would have done so. But she only had the time to construct those pale imitations. There were no seconds or hours to spare. Not when everything about her current situation was so uncertain. The only two things she knew for sure was that half of her found family was dead, and that she had to erase any traces of their existence before undesirables found their way there.

In the end, Sakura found herself half a foot away from the pyre, crouched with a katon jutsu on her lips. But for some reason she couldn’t speak. Couldn’t guide her chakra into the pattern needed to set the wood ablaze. Instead she just stared at the bark of the logs directly in front of her, tracing and retracing the patterns of the bark. What felt like hours later, a hand landed on her shoulder. Sakura startled badly, not having noticed as she'd started to slip into an exhausted sleep. Tense and on edge, she quickly slipped a kunai into her hand from her weapons pouch. She whipped around, ready to cut down whoever it was. However, at the sight of Kakashi’s worn expression and familiar signature, her anxiety immediately calmed. Sakura stood on trembling legs, only to throw herself at the jōnin with a rasping sob. 

“Sasuke… Naruto…” She whispered, gesturing towards the pyre. Kakashi hushed her quietly, telling her that he knew. He held her close, and Sakura caught the scent of ozone before heat billowed against her back. Kakashi had lit the pyres. Sakura leaned back a little and looked up at her old sensei, her new eye pulsating in her socket. She could see the dark black and red of the sharingan reflected in Kakashi’s tarnished headband. Kakashi’s visible eye widened in surprise, before his expression gentled with a bittersweet sort of pain.

“Naruto told me to take it. Probably because Sasuke asked him to, but he knew he wouldn’t make it.” Sakura told him. No matter how much Sasuke had matured, he would always have that sliver of pride at being an Uchiha. At ensuring the eyes continued on. It was why Sakura agreed to take the eye instead of destroying it like she could have. Sakura burrowed into Kakashi’s shoulder, thinking. It was sort of ironic. Kakashi’s sharingan had taken his left eye while Sakura’s had taken her right. A pair of mismatched sets, the two of them. But just as before with Kakashi and Obito, the price was far from worth it. Her eyes welled up with tears, her sniffles muffled by Kakashi’s ripped up flak jacket. And when she finally ran out, she fell asleep against him.

**_By_ ** the time she woke, Sakura was lying down, a sleeping bag beneath her. There was a fire, the lingering smell of cooked fish, and when she looked around she saw Kakashi sitting on a stump. He was turned to the side a bit, looking out over the devastated crater. Sakura looked up at the sky above the crater, looking for any traces of smoke. When she saw nothing there, she looked down and saw that the pyres were no longer burning. It was then she knew. They were gone. _For good this time._ Sakura sat up, alerting Kakashi to her presence, and he turned to face her.

"You're late, sensei," she mumbled, rubbing at her eyes.

"Well, I got held up when I landed in the middle of a battle," he told her, and Sakura could see a littany new injuries littering his body. Ones other than those that he'd had before their sojourn to the past. "I tried to get here sooner, but I'm afraid that the Iwa-nin weren't too keen on letting me go without a fight. But never mind that, I cooked some food up,” Kakashi stared at her meaningfully, “You should eat it."

Sakura looked over to where he indicated, and she saw a pot sitting on a rock. Upon some investigation, she was able to discern that there was some sort of simple fish soup in it. Through force of habit, she first checked it with a small burst of chakra. She knew that Kakashi wouldn’t mind, especially when the man did the exact same. No matter who had cooked the meal, or even if he had seen every ingredient and every step of the cooking. Once her chakra came back negative for anything bad, Sakura devoured the food like there was no tomorrow. Which had nearly been the truth, before they'd gone hurtling back through time. By the time she was done Sakura had consumed a generous portion of the soup. And even though she wasn't filled by it, Sakura was glad to finally have something on her stomach. Sakura looked over at Kakashi, gesturing at the pot in her hands with a questioning look. Kakashi waved her off.

“It’s fine. I already ate,” The jōnin assured her. Sakura nodded, accepting his response. She placed the pot back down on the rock, moving over to where Kakashi was sitting in order to address his wounds. She raised her arms carefully, making sure Kakashi could see them at all times as she probed his body with chakra. Usually she didn’t have to be so mindful, but after what they just experienced it didn’t hurt to be careful. Shinobi were highly volatile at the best of times. And she would know. She was one of them. Kakashi’s shoulders relaxed minutely, and he stayed relatively still as she closed the split in his skin and disinfected all the wounds she could reach.

"So what do we do now?" Sakura asked after checking Kakashi over with medical chakra. "Naruto… He said that Obito wasn't there with Madara and Zetsu. We… we should figure out the exact date, so we can… we can…"

"Calm down," Kakashi soothed, rubbing her arm up and down in an attempt to settle her. It worked. Sort of. "Deep breaths. I already know when we landed. Based on my encounter with the Iwa-nin, we've still got a few years or so before Kannabi Bridge. Plenty of time to plan.” Kakashi glanced into the forest surrounding them, looking hard into a particular direction before looking back at Sakura. Almost as if he knew of something hiding there. And maybe he did. Kakashi kept speaking. “Besides, there's something else I want to do first." Sakura cocked her head, more than a little curious. They had travelled to the past in order to forge a better future, but Team Seven had never really been able to plan farther than that. Only a general idea. There hadn’t been in any time. Not with the Fourth Shinobi War raging around them and stealing the lives of their comrades left and right.

"What is it?" she asked, a sort of prompting. Kakashi blinked, seeming to pull himself back from where he’d gotten lost in his thoughts.

"Tenzou," he told her, and Sakura recognised the name that Kakashi had always called Yamato-taichou. "He's not in Danzou's hands yet. I want to get him away from Orochimaru's base before that old bastard councillor can get to him.” Kakashi’s eyes glanced back to the forest again and Sakura knew that the jōnin was feeling something kind of like hope. She could feel it too, her heart beating all too harshly within her chest. A hope not without its own costs, however. Kakashi looked back at Sakura, his visible eye bright with an inner light. “That particular base is not far from the Valley of the End, so it shouldn't take too long to get there."

Sakura nodded. "First thing in the morning?" she proposed, picking the likeliest time frame. It was well into the night at the moment, and travelling through vaguely familiar terrain in a time that Kakshi could only really half remember wasn’t the wisest of ideas. Kakashi inclined his head. Sakura immediately got up at the agreement, settling down the camp for the night. Once the fire was put out and the smoke dispersed with a small futon jutsu, Sakura laid back down on the sleeping bag Kakashi had laid out for her. Said jōnin settled on the sleeping bag directly next to hers, a dark green one she hadn’t even noticed. Sakura was grateful for the company though. The chances of her falling asleep without his comforting presence had been low. Especially with her first sharingan-memory standing stark and grotesque in the darkness of her mind. She pressed her back up against Kakashi’s, soaking in the warmth. She felt safe for the first time in a long while. Only then did she really slip away, a flash of silver keeping away her nightmares.

_“In the early days Sakura worried that the world would end if they made a single mistake. Somehow, Kakashi always knew what she was thinking, and assured her that they wouldn’t. ‘Not if it’s you, not if it’s us.’ And somehow, despite it all, she eventually began to believe him.” —Haruno Sakura, ‘Tales of the Silver Cherry Forest’_


	3. "But it was something, and that was more than before."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Plus one with the hope for more."

**_When_ ** the sun rose, Sakura and Kakashi packed up their makeshift camp. Kakashi had sealed away Naruto and Sasuke's things---at least the ones that had survived the fire---into storage seals. Apparently Kakashi had managed to keep a lot of supplies on him, while Sakura didn't even have a kunai. The one she had threatened him with last night had been lost to the boys’ funeral pyre, whatever was left of it was likely a melted mess of metal. They would bury their keepsakes of their lost teammates later. Probably when they were recognized Konoha shinobi again. The thought had threatened to send Sakura spiraling into another sob-fest, but she blinked the tears away. She was determined to leave her crying spells behind her. Not that she wasn't grieving, of course she was. But grief was the luxury of peacetime and civilians. She had no time for that now. Not until they secured a better future.  _ If they ever would. _

As they travelled, Kakashi revealed to her that he was still able to summon his pack. And he meant  _ his  _ pack, not the one that belonged to the younger Kakashi of this time period. Sakura was elated at the news, and Kakashi allowed a short pause in their journey so that she could attempt to Katsuyu. Her attempt was immediately successful, and the little piece of the slug summon had been overjoyed to see both her and then Kakashi, alive and well. Together the three of them had taken a moment to mourn the loss of Naruto and Sasuke. Katsuyu had then insisted on transferring all the chakra this summoned portion had over to Sakura, defending her decision with the fact that she didn't want Sakura to remain helpless. Especially since her seal was all but depleted due to the time leap. It took a minute, but eventually Sakura caved and transferred the chakra from Katsuyu straight into her seal, filling it almost halfway. Not before bidding Katsuyu goodbye, of course. 

By the time they made it to the lab’s location, the sun had moved into late afternoon. Sakura kept watch as Kakashi summoned his pack. The others kept watch with Sakura as Kakashi ordered Pakkun to sniff the place out. It wasn’t long before Pakkun came trotting back up to them, some good news finally coming up. Orochimaru wasn't there. Hadn’t been for awhile, from the way the old snake’s scent had faded. So they entered. Carefully, since one could never know how many tricks Orochimaru would line his labs with. Kakashi and his ninken lead the way with their noses. Sakura kept her senses on the alert, searching for any patterns in the walls to see if a trap or genjutsu had been laid. In the end, their wariness hadd halfway been for nothing. Because there was neither hide nor hair of either Orochimaru nor his associates. No minions are active experiments. 

What they found instead made Sakura want to retch. Her eyes flickered across each of the containers, each holding an experiment like some over-glorified group of jumbo-jars in an old medicine shop. Suspicious, as well as holding a terrible truth within. Despite her churning stomach, Sakura held down her swirling nausea and determinedly got to work. There were about sixty lab jars, all with children in varying states of growth. Forty looked deliberately sabotaged, likely due to them being 'failures' in Orochimaru's eyes. Eighteen simply looked abandoned, the occupants simply dying slowly in their tubes. One was broken, with the child that had possibly resided within it long gone. For a moment, Sakura despaired that maybe they were too late, that they hadn’t made it in time in order to save one of Kakashi’s most trusted companions. Even Kakashi looked defeated, crouched close to the ground with his head near in-between his knees. But then Pakkun spoke up.

"Over here!" The pug called with a desperate hope. "He's over here!"

Sakura dashed over, with Kakashi following at a more sedate pace. Sakura gasped at the sight of a young Yamato, brown hair floating upwards and eyes wide open. Or rather Tenzō, as Kakashi had been insisting on calling the young boy since they began their side quest to save him. He was floating in the glass tube, large brown eyes staring at them with a mixture of fright and hope. Sakura flickered her gaze across the machines closest to the container. Both cables and wires seemed to connect the machines to Tenzō’s container. She quickly studied the readings that were still registering on the machines’ monitors. She noted that Tenzō's health seemed fine, but the sensors in the machine were monitoring a slow decline in his life energy. It took her a minute before she could decipher how to free Tenzō without killing him. Luckily it was a simple run down of each switch on the consoles. One by one, Sakura shut all the switches on the tube down, until the water drained and she was finally able to open the glass and get to him.

Tenzō stumbles into Sakura as she rushes forward. She immediately began to channel her chakra into him, searching both his body and chakra system. Sakura assessed any and all of the damage she could find, fixing the several key issues that could have eventually turned for the worse if left alone. Kakashi, trusting Sakura to take care of Tenzō, was collecting the corpses of the discarded children in order to burn them later. He did this as Sakura attended to Tenzō, completing the extra task Sakura would have asked him to do if he hadn’t already started doing it.

"How is he?" Kakashi asked, an anxiety in his voice as he came over from finishing his task. Sakura glanced at him briefly.

"He'll be fine," Sakura told him. "He's malnourished and underweight, but that can easily be fixed." Tenzō has passed out in her arms, the paleness of his skin glistening in the flickering fluorescent lights. Kakashi’s gaze surveyed across Tenzō, evaluating the boy’s state. He sighed, his expression pinched. Then he looked back to Sakura.

"Is there anything else we need from here?" Kakashi questioned. Sakura quirked her head to the side, thinking about it for a few seconds.

"Well, did you find any clothes that might fit him?" Sakura enquired, and when he shook his head, she sighed. Kakashi unsealed an extra blanket and offered it to Sakura.

“Use this,” The jōnin suggested. Sakura took the proffered blanket, wrapping Tenzō up in the surprising soft fabric. She took one last look at the trashed lab, and then the line of bodies. 

"Let's get out of here then." Sakura concluded. They left the same way they came, Pakkun and the pack scenting it out so they didn’t trigger any of traps they might’ve missed. While there was some form of enjoyment to be gained from demolishing the base, Sakura couldn’t say she felt any pleasure when they collapsed it before razing the remains to the ground. It was more of a muted sort of relief at the fact that Orochimaru could no longer use the base as a place to ruin both lives and people. As she stood there watching the flames flicker and roar, Sakura took in a deep breath. She held Tenzō securely on her hip, the boy having woken up shortly after the initial cave-in of the old base. Kakashi stood close-by her side, his own gaze on the fire. And as the orangey-red flames curled up against the darkened night sky, Sakura couldn't help but wonder what they were all going to do now.

Now that Sasuke and Naruto had sacrificed themselves to complete the priority of their mission. She wondered where in the timeline they actually were. Wondered if they were early enough to save even the people they hadn’t planned on saving. Kakashi has said they were a few years before the events of Kannabi Bridge… Sakura’s thoughts wandered until she realized why her brain was pacing back and forth. Not Obito, they had already planned for that. Not Naruto’s father nor Tsunade’s brother. Him.

If there was a chance, and maybe there wasn’t, but still Sakura had to try. And if there was…

They could save him.

  
  


_ “Every time Sakura dared to hope, she believed a little bit less. But their plan had held merit, and so far things had worked out. Not perfectly, not without cost. But it was something, and that was more than before.” —Haruno Sakura, ‘Tales of the Silver Cherry Forest’ _


End file.
